In true modern fashion, we met on a dating app. I had strategically placed several pictures with Scout (my very handsome Golden Retriever) on my Hinge dating profile, and Haley took the bait. She messaged me about how cute Scout was and I almost immediately responded in an effort to get a conversation started. Little did I know, it would be an excruciating 6 day wait before I heard back from her. The wait was worth it, though, because after a few days of texting back and forth we finally went on our first date to Abel Brown and boy did the sparks fly. We bonded over music, dogs, and our mutually favorite TV shows It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Entourage, and Workaholics.

Despite it being a school night, I was having so much fun with Haley I didn't want the evening to end, so I pitched the idea of heading downtown to a dessert bar called Vance's. We spent another couple of hours talking and laughing over cocktails and fancy desserts. After that evening, I knew I had found someone very special and we have spent almost every day together since.

Our first few months were filled with plenty of date nights, weekend getaways, and Haley getting dragged to a bunch of concerts of bands she had never heard of (but she loves now). I know everyone is curious so I'll include the concert lineup from our first month in chronological order: Drive-By Truckers, Little Feat, Goose, Felix Pastorius Trio, and Joe Russo's Almost Dead. I also scored some Sunday Masters tickets and of course I wanted to bring my brand new girlfriend of less than two weeks along. Pretty epic beginnings, right? Now you can all understand how she fell for me so quickly.

We took our first big trip together to Islamorada for the 4th of July and it was one of my most memorable vacations. Not only did we get to assist some of our best friends with a surprise proposal, but it was also the first time we said "I love you." I knew Haley was the one I wanted to spend forever with after she spent 5 days straight fishing on my boat in the 95 degree heat. What a trooper! Fast forward a couple of years full of ski trips, fishing trips, camping trips and building our life together, we found ourselves back in the Florida Keys. I had an engagement ring hidden in my fishing gear box and was planning a surprise proposal of my own. With the help of some of our best friends, we took a pre-dinner field trip to the Bahia Honda State Park where I "finally" asked Haley to be my wife in front of a beautiful Florida Keys sunset (and she said "that's the wrong hand" first but then said "yes!").

-Michael

Y'all already know Michael is the talker, and I think he pretty much said it all! I will add that if I could go back, I would respond to him 6 days sooner, just so that I could know him 6 days longer. He had me from our first date when he said "dessert?"

-Haley